Air fresheners are found in most homes and businesses and are consumer products that mitigate unpleasant odors in indoor spaces. Air fresheners can come in a number of different forms, including but not limited to, candles, aerosol sprays, potpourri, gels and mechanical or heat release products. Air fresheners work in a number of different ways, including (a) absorption, where absorbent materials, such as activated charcoal, is used to be absorb offending chemical odors; (b) disinfection, where odors caused by bacterial activity can be eliminated by disinfectants like ozone or bleaching agents; (c) anesthetization, where anesthetics dull the sense of smell and (d) masking, where odors are obscured with a fragrance. The last type is the most common in terms of placement in a home and public rooms, such as public restrooms.
However, common household air fresheners have come under fire recently from a number of activist groups and even governmental bodies and councils. For example, a National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study of thirteen of the more common household air fresheners found that most of these products contain chemicals that can aggravate asthma and affect reproductive development. The NRDC called for more rigorous supervision of the manufacturers and their products, which were widely assumed to be safe. One of the more troubling findings was that lab testing confirmed the presence of phthalates, or hormone-disrupting chemicals that may pose a particular health risk to babies and young children. Many of these products were marked “all natural” and none of the products had these chemicals listed on their labels. There are many movements by health and safety groups to make people more aware of the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in everyday consumer products, such as air fresheners. Since these compounds may be harmful to one's health over time, there is a need for alternative products.
Another problem when using a commercial air freshener is the fact that your entire house seem to smell like a bathroom—which is far from desirable. Since commercial air fresheners are most often used in bathrooms or in closets or laundry rooms, they are designed and geared towards this use. There is thus a need and desire to provide an improved air freshener that offers a wider variety of pleasant smelling fragrances that can be customized according to a particular person's needs or desires.
Over the recent years, there is a growing trend in natural aromatherapy products and services. Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils (EOs), and other aromatic compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting a person's mood or health. Essential oils differ in chemical composition from other herbal products because the distillation process only recovers the lighter phytomolecules. For this reason essential oils are rich in monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. In general, aromatherapy is a generic term that refers to any of the various traditions that make use of essential oils sometimes in combination with other alternative medical practices and spiritual beliefs. Popular use of these products include massaging products, medicine, or any topical application that incorporates the use of essential oils to their products. Essential oils are also commonly used in room diffuser products which typically include a container, such as a bottle, into which the essential oil is placed and a plurality of reeds which absorb the scent of the essential oils and then gently diffuse it throughout the room. One advantage of this product is that there are a wide array of essential oil products that can be used to create different, unique fragrances, from fruity fragrances, such as blood orange essential oil, to flowery fragrances, like lilac.